


superpowers and the good college try

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura Angst, College AU, F/F, F/M, Fighting, Keith angst, Kinda, Lance Angst, Lance has water powers, Langst, M/M, Pidge Angst, Pidge has plant powers, college au too, firebender keith, shiro is space dad, superhero au, waterbender lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23783002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After stumbling upon a long forgotten cavern at the excavation site of a castle lost to time, six teenagers- Pidge, Lance, Keith, Hunk, Shiro, and Allura- develop powers and find themselves at war against a branch of corrupt government known as the Galra, who have found a way to create terrifying war machines that will kill.Can they figure out these powers before its too late?
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Allura/Romelle (Voltron), Hunk/Keith (Voltron), Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to The Conservatory Discord server for being such sweeties and encouraging me to write! Mwah!

“What the actual fuck!” A girl hollered. She wore a green cape that covered half her body, left arm protruding from the comforting fabric. The green hood sat over her head, shielding her face from view.

“It’s not my fault the entire ocean decided to just drop in!” Another voice added, this time coming from a tall and lanky man. A pulsing blue symbol was etched into his right shin, two arrows pointing at one another in an hourglass shape, another two lines branching off of it. He wore a blue cape, flowing like the water he commanded. A pale tunic with a golden belt gave way to his black leggings.

“Well, firstly it was not the entire ocean- and secondly, I guess it did get rid of the bots,” the one in green sighed, the tattoo on her wrist emitting a faint green light. The light grew stronger, and soon she was surrounded by a projection of screens and scanners. “I’m not picking up on anything nearby, but that doesn’t mean we’re all clear,” 

“Guys, we should get going,” another boy spoke, dark eyes tracing over the growing masses of bystanders. He wore a black suit, accompanied by a mask that depicted a red lion’s face. Two gauntlets were worn over his arms, each red with accents of white and gold.

“Sounds good, the others are probably already at our rendezvous point,” the girl in green agreed, snapping her fingers. Vines rose from a nearby flowerbed, allowing the trio some cover as they powered down their suits, slipping into the crowd unnoticed. She clapped, and the vines shrunk back to their normal size.

“Way to show off, Pidge,” the boy in blue grunted, tugging the white hood of his jacket over his head. The girl hummed, an amused smile etched onto her pale skin.

“Shut up, Lance. At least I didn’t soak the pier in water and now dead fish- aren’t we supposed to be heroes? I’m disappointed- just think of all those fish! They had schools and families and- oh who am I kidding, food is food,” Pidge responded.

“At least I did more than Keith,” Lance shrugged, slapping a hand against the second boy’s back. The raven haired male sent an annoyed glare to the Cuban, but it was ignored.

“Dude, I literally punched one of the bots,” Keith said. Lance raised an eyebrow before turning back to pestering Pidge. 

The girl groaned, slapping Lance’s hands as he reached for her honey brown hair. “Stop, we have to get back to campus soon or else someone is going to be at us for missing dinner three days in a row,” 

The three continued to walk in silence, the paved sidewalks of Arus City leading towards Garrison University, the prestigious school for the adept and advanced young adults in society. The school specialized in fields going into different sciences, well known for their observatory and strengths in astronomy.

It had been five months since the group of six- Pidge, Lance, Keith, Hunk, Shiro, and Allura- had gone to the site of a newly uncovered structure from ancient history- a castle decayed by time and buried by sand. They discovered a cavern, and had entered thinking nothing unusual of it.

Pidge fawned over the intricate carvings lacing the walls in delicate design- astonished by the talent and imagination their ancestors once held. But when they ventured deeper into the cave, the ground beneath them gave way and they collapsed into the dark abyss.

When they came to, they were in a small pond surrounded by hundreds, possibly thousands of depictions. The drawings were carefully made around blue crystals that grew around the room. 

They didn’t remember much after this- a few flashes of colors alongside a sound of shattering glass. The next time the group woke up, they were laying in the castle’s entrance, with strange symbols drawn into their skin.

After that, strange and unexplainable incidents began to occur. And none of them knew how to explain, or even grasp what was going on. And so, they went along with it.

Pidge was dragged out of her thoughts when they entered the dining hall. In the distant corner, she could make out Allura’s long locks of platinum white hair, seated near a window with two other boys. The girl sighed, running a finger through her own knotted mass of hair. It was long, and a mess.

She picked up an empty glass, filling it with a caffeinated soda and walking off to sit with the others. Allura was stirring around the contents of her plate, showing no motive in actually consuming it.

“  
How was your… afternoon?” she smiled, placing down the fork and watching Pidge intently. Seconds later, Lance and Keith set down their plates, going on about who was a better driver. 

“It was alright, we found some bots at the pier and dealt with them, but there was a crowd of people at the scene. Thankfully, our suits hid our identities but I’m not sure we can deal with any more sightings,” Pidge explained, taking a sip of her drink. “What about you guys?”

“There was no activity on our end, so we spent the afternoon scanning some of the robot parts in the lab- Hunk, want to share what you found?” Shiro replied, gaze shifting to the boy who was nervously eating.  
“Oh! Well, I found out that these guys are made from a blend of titanium and tungsten- but there’s something else woven through the pieces, kind of like a spider web. It was an unknown substance, I can probably run more tests but I was hungry and I can’t think on an empty stomach,” Hunk answered, fidgeting with his spoon.

“Interesting- if I had thought to get a sample of one of the bots, possibly a completely intact one if we can find a way to disable them without harming its technological and skeletal structure, I could try and engineer a way to shut them down by redirecting currents from their power source,” Pidge hummed.

“Genius! And if we can figure out what’s powering them and how to shut them down, we could find a way to get to their source!” Hunk added, a light shining in his eyes. The two high fived, laughing to themselves.

“Did anybody else understand any of that?” Lance asked, food slipping off of his fork with a small thud. “Because I totally did-” he nervously added. He received a pat on the back from Keith- a sarcastic one at that- and went back to his meal.

“Anyways, the fact that someone is actually creating and deploying these is rather frightening,” Allura solemnly spoke, eyes drifting sadly to her lap. “And it’s getting dangerous, we need to find an end to this as soon as we can,” she added.

“Allura’s right, we have to put an end to this before anybody gets hurt badly,” Shiro nodded in agreement, standing up. “I’m going to head to bed, I recommend you guys do too,” 

Pidge mumbled under her breath, swirling the remaining soda in her cup before gulping it down in a final swig. She knew sleep was definitely not an option for her. She had lots of work to get done- she needed to do research and a fair share of hacking.

Personal reasons, that was her excuse. Her issues were her own, and Pidge had no business dumping her issues onto her friends, even though she knew and understood they cared for her. 

“Sounds good,” she lied. Pidge stood, bringing her cup to the dishwashing area of the dining hall before heading out the doors on the walk to her dorm. She opened her phone, pouting at the visible green of the tattoo on her wrist.

She tugged her sleeve lower, tucking her device into her boot and continuing to walk in silence. The moon hung high, bright rays of moonlight washing the trees and buildings in a soft white glow. 

Pidge held her prox card against the scanner, the door to the dorm unlocking with a gentle click. She opened it, heading for her room. The dorms on campus could either be singles, doubles, or triples. She had lucked out, scoring herself a single.

Perfect for late night hacking and research, nobody to bother her or to tell her to go to sleep. She sat down at her desk, opening the laptop that was carefully placed- a difference from the cluttered chaos of the rest of the room. Photos and drawings were pinned all over the walls, some connected by different colors of string.

Clothes were carelessly tossed in the closet, wrappers and empty cans of energy drinks pushed to the side of the desk.

She logged into her account, scanning the files organized on the desktop. She opened a file, filled with photos of the drawings etched into the rock caverns.

“There has to be some story, some clue about what these are,” she whispered to herself, rolling up the sleeve of her hoodie to look at her own symbol. One tall arrow, with a wider, but shorter one stemming off the same line- like a tree. Two dashes were at each edge of the top arrow’s wings, the whole tattoo a deep shade of green.

Nature was her first thought. It made sense, after all she was able to manipulate vines and foliage, commanding the natural world at will. It was strange, the symbol felt like an entity in her mind. Whenever she wanted to use the power, she felt the entity consume her body- as if Pidge was just a host for whatever this was.

Sometimes, in her dreams the girl saw a green lion. She was tall, and bold, welcoming and bright yellow eyes glowing in the light that basked at her paws. 

Pidge didn’t remember much of these dreams, but she had a strong feeling that this lion was the entity that shared her mind. Her fingers hovered over the touchpad, clicking the arrow at the side. The photos seemed to tell a story, but it made no sense.

From what she understood, people had fallen into the cavern- which was confusing as the first depiction showed the group of people reaching for their freedom as a large god watched over them.

She frowned, opening the file in gallery view. She scrolled to the end- these photos taken in the deepest part of the cave. The girl grabbed a notepad, and began writing.

By the time she pulled through the entire gallery, she had about three pages of notes, an attempt at piecing together the story these people were trying to tell.

“So these people were attacked and hid in the caves, but got trapped inside…” she whispered to herself, tapping her pen on the desk. “After being trapped for a while they found an exit from the gods and escaped? I don’t know if that’s right,” she groaned looking at the images again.

She froze, looking closer at one of the drawings. On their chest there were five symbols, shaped like the points of a star. On the top was the symbol that Shiro bore on the back of his neck, the two sides the ones that were on Keith and her own arms. The two feet of the star were the same tattoos Lance and Hunk had.

The entire depiction was what was drawn onto Allura’s stomach.

She clicked through the other images, rethinking her observations as she looked closer at the people with the symbols.

Now, she understood.

People chosen by the gods to hold their power in a time of need, such as the cave-in trapping these citizens without food or water.

She closed the album, pushing aside her notebook. The pages crinkled as they were pushed, but she ignored it. All these sudden thoughts bombarding her head was a nightmare, she didn’t know how to comprehend the fact she had superhuman abilities.

It was cool- it was really, really, really fucking cool- but it also scared her. No scientific research could explain this, it was unknown and science alone could not explain it. 

Her head hurt, but she couldn’t stop now. She needed to help others, and be of use. She needed to do her best, and that meant sacrificing life and limb to help her team.

A glance at her clock told her that it was nearly two in the morning. Perhaps a little sleep wouldn’t hurt her, after all she’d be of less use if she couldn’t even think straight.

. . . . . . . .

Keith stared at his reflection, something he hardly ever did. His hair was disheveled, tired eyes staring back at him. He looked at the red mark on his shoulder, a jumble of lines that somehow resembled a fire. 

He rolled back his arm, taking in a deep breath as he felt the familiar inferno of thoughts engulf his body. It wasn’t painful- in fact it never was. The red lion mask that now returned his gaze in the mirror never made him uncomfortable or unsure.

He felt at home, his mind wide awake. He held his hand in front of him, watching as flames danced over his skin- never harming, just co-existing with him. It was strange to think about, in a way.

But it was easier to not think, and just be. The entity in the back of his head growled in agreement. 

His strengths lied in his ability to run into any situation without a plan, and still be able to emerge victorious without any issues.

He sighed, calling for the flames to go away. They vanished, mask and suit burning away. He now stood in his gray t-shirt and black jeans, as if nothing was different.

With a rumble from the back of his head, he curled onto his bed, relaxing into the silent lull of sleep.

. . . . . . . .

“Breaking news: emerging heroes dubbed ‘Flame’, ‘Sea’, and ‘Ivee’ have been seen at the pier, fighting what seems to be advanced robots. Citizens speculate how these heroes are able to manipulate elements, some even claiming they are aliens. The question is, will we ever see these heroes again? And is there more where that came from?” The news reporter said, shuffling her papers before continuing to speak. “We do not know what these supposed heroes want, or who they’re fighting, but we hope that if the situation arises, they’ll save us. Now, let’s watch some of the clips from yesterday’s attack on the pier,”

The group was at Shiro’s apartment, watching the news. Lance had been eating a bowl of cereal when the report came on, spitting out the milk in his mouth when he heard what he had been dubbed as.

“Sea? They call me sea? What? Keith and Pidge get cool names! Why am I stuck with something as simple and boring as ‘Sea’? Can I get a better name? Like sharpshooter! Or-“ Lance went on, but stopping as the clips played out on screen.

The hooded girl in green ran up a vine, waving her arms around wildly. More plants and trees grew up from the base of the earth, wrapping around the robots and pinning them in place. 

Keith ran over, hands glowing with red fire as he leaped on top of the machine, hands searing into the metal and burning through its protective cover.

This continued until all the bots were immobilized, and Lance called forth the ocean. The water rained down on the pier in a heavy flow, the liquid seeping into the exposed electricity of the enemy, causing them to sizzle and spark before shutting down.

Pidge rolled onto the ground, cloak blowing wildly in the sea’s wind. She moved the vines, pushing all the dead machines toward each other. Keith approached, resting his hands against the cool metal, letting the entity take over his body.

His hands were hot enough to melt the metal, it pooling onto the rocks near the sea. Lance scooped up the melted metal, molding it into a miniature spacecraft that little kids could play in. He winked at one of the cameras, and the feed fuzzed out right as Pidge opened her mouth to scream a vulgarity.

“Okay, so we may have gotten a little flamboyant,” Lance began, avoiding eye contact with the others. Instead, he opted to sip the remaining milk from the bowl.

“We? Lance you were the only one trying to impress people,” Pidge rolled her eyes, turning off her phone. “Videos of us are circling the internet, it’s everywhere,” 

“There goes being subtle,” Allura sighed, pulling a brush through her silky hair. “Regardless, at least we have a steady way to destroy these bots,” she added.

“Well, with this video up, whoever is making them knows our tactics and can probably find a way around them- it’s totally possible given the fact they’ve built a mass amount of robots hellbent on killing people,” Keith spat, looking between Lance and the television.

“That is true, and if they do make changes, we’ll simply have to find another way to beat them,” Allura agreed.

“I’m not really sure how I feel about fighting super angry robots all the time- I’ll admit having powers is cool and all but I don’t want to be throwing my life in harm’s way as a past time,” Hunk fidgeted with his hands. “I’d really like to go home and be with my moms, eating some banana cake- but we’re at school and it’d be fine if we weren’t also balancing some super secret hero identities or whatever!”

“We’re not superheroes, Hunk,” Pidge rolled her eyes, standing up to refill her coffee cup. “We’re just fighting robots who want to do bad things, we’re not going out of our way to save some little kids in a burning building or something,”

“Well, we should still try to keep people safe. If crowds form around our fights like that, one day someone is going to get hurt,” Shiro stated, turning off the TV. “The question right now is, what are we willing to do for the sake of humanity?”

“I don’t know about the sake of humanity, if we all died off it’d be way better for the environment. Besides, if people are stupid enough to be putting themselves in dangerous situations, why are we supposed to bail them out of poor life decisions?” Pidge mumbled in between sips of the caffeinated beverage.

“True, but we shouldn’t try to let people get hurt,” Keith agreed. “But right now we should focus on trying to figure out what exactly we’re fighting,” 

The others hummed in agreement, turning their attention to a large boom outside the apartment. The ground shook, and the group dashed to the window, eyes bulging at the site before them.

A huge beast- more like a monster- was wreaking havoc over the city. Small buildings crashed to the ground, and people fled for cover. It wasn’t as big as Godzilla, but if you stacked about three human males on top of each other’s heads- that was about what they were looking at.

“I think we’re fighting that,” Lance stated, causing the others to groan in annoyance.

“Do we have to? It looks really dangerous and-“ 

“Hunk! Yes, we’re fighting it. Pidge, can you use your vines to pull everyone in danger away from the beast?” Allura asked. The girl nodded, allowing her entity to consume her.

The green light in her eyes faded, and she opened the window, jumping down from the tall building and catching a vine to break her fall. She ran forward, whispering to all the aspects of nature that thrived in the city.

She had never done something this big, but she had to- for the sake of all the innocent lives out there. She understood the difference between people approaching danger to get famous, and people struggling to get away.

This was one of the times where people were struggling to escape from the line of danger.

The plants whispered back to her, and she allowed two roots to wrap around her legs, meeting at her torso. 

She breathed in, slowly exhaling as she focused on pouring all energy into the roots. They would run below the city, offering strength to the neighboring vegetation- which under her command would pull anybody out of harm’s way.

She just didn’t expect the draining feeling she endured as this happened, groaning as she continued to push through the pain.

The others had transformed into their suits, allowing their own entities to envelop and take the form of their power.

Allura wore a skin-tight suit, her curly hair slipping over her shoulders and down her back alongside the regal blue cape. The suit opened around her stomach, letting the emblem of symbols be visible to the world. The bottom half of the suit was black, accompanied by white boots with accents of pink.

Her tanned skin was covered in an array of pink markings, running down her cheekbones, swirling around her arms to her fingertips.

She couldn’t pinpoint her power exactly, but she was able to grow crystals and make them float- which functioned as an easy way to create shields or prisons depending on the situation.

On top of this, she could open portals so long as she knew where she wanted to end up.

She focused on the land in front of the monster, outstretching her arms. Her fingertips began to glow a faint white, and before them a swirling vortex of deep violets and blues welcomed them.

They dashed forward, exiting at the monster’s feet.

Lance pulled water through the fire hydrants and sewer, creating chains that swirled around the giant beast’s feet and body, freezing them with the cocking of his head.

This was unlike anything they’ve ever fought before, it was large, but also appeared to be made of flesh. It tore through the chains like butter, so Allura stomped down on the ground, twisting her hands to create a crystal prism around it.

Shiro rushed forward, adorned in a suit of black armor. On his back, a set of red and blue wings spread out as if they were ready to take flight. A strong gust of wind followed behind him. He aimed at the thing’s head with precision, praying the strength of the gust would be enough to break off it’s head.

He was shocked to find out it didn’t work.

Hunk was next, his arms wrapped in a smooth fabric that hung freely, swinging in the wind. A belt wrapped around the base of the shirt, baggy pants that cut off just above the ankle, where a yellow mark pulsed with light on his left foot, visible by the sandals he wore.

He pulled his arms up, pillars of rock rising from the ground. He punched the air, slabs of it sliding towards the monster. It roared, and in a panic Hunk continued to throw punches towards it.

Keith gave him a pat on the back, running up the crystals to take a leap at the thing’s feet. He pressed his hands into the metal, eyes widening when they melted through but did nothing to stop it.

They had most definitely upgraded.

“Where’s Pidge? I have an idea!” Allura shouted, Creating an opening for Keith to dart away from the robot. 

Lance looked around, not seeing the girl anywhere. He swore under his breath, looking back at Allura.

“I think she’s still getting people out of the way, I’m sure she’ll be here soon!” He hollered in return, yelping as a piece of building was thrown his way.

“We don’t have soon! We’ll have to try this without her!” The tanned girl replied, motioning for everyone to join her. “Okay, everyone use your power,” she spoke calmly, keeping an eye on the beast.

They did as told. Shiro held wind in his hand, blowing gently into his grasp to add more of it. Keith’s right arm was on fire, and Lance held a bubble of water in front of him. Multiple rocks floated around Hunk, and Allura bit down on her lip, furrowing her eyebrows.

Crystals formed around what the boys had done, swirling together in a frenzy of excitement. All at once, she pushed the crystals towards the monster, watching with satisfaction as it fell in defeat.

She groaned, eyes rolling back into her head.

“Allura!” Lance shouted, rushing to her side. He checked her for any physical injuries, hoisting her up in his arms as her suit turned into a tank top and leggings.

“I’m going to see what was powering this thing, I’ll be right back,” Hunk said, running towards the fallen creature. With the earth by his side, he opened up the chest plate, rummaging through the wires and circuits until he found what he was looking for.

A glass container, inside a red, beating, heart.

He wanted to throw up at the sight, instead opting to pass out.

Shiro and Keith helped Hunk back to campus, their forms evaporating into nothingness as if anything remotely strange or unusual didn’t just occur.

Lance helped Allura get back to her own dorm, but thankfully the girl came to before he had to explain to the girls in her dorm why he was carrying an unconscious woman to her bedroom.

As he was about to head to his own shared room with Hunk, he remembered something.

Or rather, someone.

“Fuck!” He swore, running back into the city. He turned a few corners, stopping at Shiro’s apartment complex. Sure enough, Pidge was just where they had left her- unconscious and covered in vines. “Ay, dios mio-“ he whispered, rushing to her side.

“Pidge? Pidgey?” He shook her form. Her hair was knotted even more than usual, her skin scarily pale. He brushed it away from her closed eyes, beginning to work on prying the vines away from her body.

It was thanks to her there weren’t any casualties that day, and they had forgotten about her- he kicked himself in the gut, prying away the last vine from her ankle. He scooped her up in his arms, her head rolling into the side of his neck.

She whispered softly, something Lance couldn’t make out, but she definitely wasn’t in the right state of mind to repeat what she had mumbled.

He decided to go straight for his room, praying that none of the other guys would be hanging out in the common room- which thankfully they weren’t.

He entered his room, Hunk groggily walking about the space with a juice pouch in hand. He noticed Lance enter with the unconscious girl, placing down the drink and rushing to her side.

They lowered her onto Lance’s soft sheets, worry etched into their expressions- just how much energy had she lost?

“I really wanted to talk to her about something, but I guess it’ll have to wait,” Hunk sighed, beginning to sip from his juice pouch again.

“Talk to me about what..?” She groaned, blinking her tired eyes open. Her body protested, demanding more rest, but she was stubborn and instead wanted to hear what was happening.

“Pidge! You’re up!” Hunk cheered, smothering her in a warm hug. The girl hummed in response, holding onto his arm as she adjusted herself to be propped against the wall.

“Yeah, yeah- what did you want to talk to me about?” She said, exhaustion clear in her tone.

“It’s probably going to be important for everyone to hear about it, actually,” he stammered, scratching the back of his head in a nervous panic.

“You’re killing me,” Pidge deadpanned.

“Okay, fine. The robot we fought today- I got its energy source,” he spoke, pausing to rummage through a bag slung over his desk chair. She raised an eyebrow as he approached her with a glass container.

Her face paled even more than it already had, and she blinked. “Is that...”

“A heart,” Lance finished, flinching as it continued to beat.

“Yeah, a human one,” Hunk clarified, watching Pidge and Lance exchange a look of concern.

“So.. whoever we’re fighting, is killing people and using their hearts to power machinery,” Pidge muttered. “Well, fuck,”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge has a weird dream.
> 
> She and Lance get into a fight.
> 
> The enemy is revealed.

“You’re not really going to touch that- right?” Hunk asked, nudging Pidge’s shoulder as she hunched over a metal tray. “I mean that is a beating heart why would you touch it-“

“Hunk, I’m going to kindly ask you to shut up and step away from the lab table,” Pidge whispered, gently pulling out a wire from the organ. It slowed, and she reconnected it, watching with curious eyes as it returned to its rapid pulse. She hummed, repeating the action.

“What did you find?” Hunk asked, once again peering over her shoulder.

“Hunk, shush- it’s two in the morning, we aren’t supposed to be in the labs. We can’t get caught right now,” she mumbled, eyeing her friend. “But it seems like something in this wiring is able to charge the heart, almost like life support minus the life,” 

“My question is, who’s heart is it? Like is it artificial, or did whoever made the robot just kill someone and take their heart- what’s going on?” Hunk quietly questioned.

“Well, at first glance it definitely looks human- but,” she paused, setting down her sharp clamps for a more dull pair. “If you look closely, you can see the inferior vena cava has two branches, both of which have tubes connected to them,”

“And that means that this isn’t a normal heart, and was genetically modified for whatever experiment this is,” Hunk continued.

“And with all of this tech keeping this heart alive, it was artificially created based off of a human heart’s model!” Pidge eagerly finished, high fiving the larger boy with a giggle.

She gently returned the heart to its tube, ensuring all wires were where they had been before her examinations. It slid into her bag easily, and she set out on cleaning and putting away the lab materials.

“Pidge, this means that someone is literally growing organs,” the Samoan whispered, reality setting into his skin. “And using them as power sources for dangerous weapons,”

“It’s ironic to think about. This research could save so many lives, but it’s being used to destroy just that,” she agreed, locking the lab behind her. “I’ll see you at breakfast- sleep well,”

It had been about three days since the city attack, more people learning about the rising heroes. Thankfully, she wasn’t spotted due to being out of the way and focusing on saving lives, but she wasn’t able to avoid all the articles speculating about her and how her vines had saved hundreds.

It was terrifying to think about- she didn’t remember too much from the battle, but she remembered jumping out of Shiro’s window and sliding down a vine before succumbing to whatever lived within her. Pidge’s fingers traced over her wrist, a chill running down her spine.

That wasn’t something to think about right now, but it was all she could manage to do. She had passed out, and had even fallen ill. It took an entire day to regain the energy she lost, and even then, she still felt disconnected and lost.

She slid her prox against the scanner, quietly opening the door and slipping into her room. She placed her bag in the closet, jumping onto her bed.

She still felt exhausted, and really needed to rest if she wanted to be in good shape to get through classes the next day.

“Paladin,” a voice whispered in her ear- it was a rumble, a voice dripping with regality and respect. Pidge shivered, but soon felt comfort sprouting from her fingertips and wrapping around her body.

“Who are you?” She asked, looking at her surroundings. She was in a meadow, pink flowers growing for miles around- dancing in the playful wind.

“I am the roots of your power, the heart and guardian of nature- I am you,” it replied. Her honey eyes followed the flowers’ dance, landing on a figure emerging from the shadows.

A tall woman with pale olive skin and long blonde hair walked alongside that green lion, dressed in green robes.

“If you’re me, why don’t you look like me?” She asked the woman, scanning her for any sign of threat. The woman checkled, continuing to gently stroke the lion’s fur.

“My name is Trigel, ten thousand years ago I found myself in the same predicament as you,” the woman spoke.

“Same predicament..?” Pidge asked, gaze dropping onto the green tattoo on her left forearm, identical to the one on her own wrist. “Why can I see you now?”

“All will be answered in time, Katie,” Trigel smiled, and Pidge watched as the meadow grew dim, life being sucked away within seconds.

“Trigel? Hello!?” She called, but there was nobody to respond. Her eyes widened as she felt a tug, looking down to see roots growing at her ankles.

“You must become one with the green lion, Paladin Katie. Allow her full entry to your mind- no secrets, no walls. We are all made up of the same cosmic dust- you, me, Zelena-“ Trigel’s voice whispered into her ear.

“What? Who’s Zelena!” Pidge yelled, heart racing. The roots thickened, restraining her in place. “Let me go!”

“It is your fears and uncertainties that restrain you, Paladin Katie. You must learn to free yourself from the restraints you give yourself. Breathe, Katie,” the woman continued.

Pidge was breathing, though- quite a bit. She pulled against the vines, biting her lip as thorns pricked her ankles. “What the fuck? This isn’t funny!” 

A new voice echoed around her, it brought feelings of warmth, the scent of spring wafting into Pidge’s senses. It spoke four simple words.

“Do you trust me?”

Pidge awoke with a start, sweat beading on her forehead. She groaned, looking at her alarm clock. It was a few minutes before she typically awoke. 

The girl pulled away her blanket, cursing at the vines wrapped around her legs. She glanced at her wrist, lips pursing as she allowed the feeling of comfort engulf her.

“I… I trust you,” she whispered to herself, watching as the vines retreated.

Pidge sighed with relief, gently nudging the entity to the back of her head, her tank top and shorts reappearing. 

Her feet touched the cool tile of the room, and she opened her closet, rummaging through the clothes in search of something decent to wear.

Her phone buzzed on her desk, so she answered. “Hey, Lance,” 

“Pidgey!!” The Cuban eagerly cheered. “Where are you?” 

“I’m in my room getting ready, I’ll meet you guys at breakfast in a bit. I’m just a bit tired because I was at the lab with Hunk last night,” she responded, pulling out black pants and a lime green sweater. 

She hung up the phone, dropping it on the bed and slipping into the clothes she had picked out. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, leaving the dorm.

The dining hall loomed over her, the brick building caked in ivy. She entered, grabbing a coffee and meeting with the others.

“I just finished telling them about what we figured out last night! How’d you sleep?” Hunk exclaimed as she sat down with the mug.

“Good enough, had a dream though,” she hummed in response, raising an eyebrow to look at Keith. “What happened to you?”

“When I woke up I was on fire,” he muttered, taking a sip of his own drink. Pidge coughed, looking at the others who had similarly disheveled appearances.

“Really? When I woke up I was encased in crystal,” Allura chimed. “It was followed by a dream I had last night- there was,”

“A lion,” Lance finished. “There was a big, blue, lion, and some guy named Blaytz,” 

The group shared a look, losing their appetite. Rain began to pour against the window, every droplet landing with a clang.

“We’re going to be late for class, we should get going,” Shiro announced, and everyone began clearing their dishes.

Lance walked to the marine science center, ocean eyes tracing over the seashells and diagrams that lined the hallways. He entered the lab, placing his bag at his feet. 

The lesson droned on, and Lance partnered up with a girl named Acxa. They had to grow organisms and track the growth patterns- Lance wasn’t too sure, he had spaced out midway through the lesson. 

He was distracted by the waves crashing against the rocky shore outside the window, the rain amplifying the strength he felt in the building.

“Lance, can you pass me the slide?” Acxa asked, lips pressed against one another as she focused on the experiment. Lance nodded, handing it to the girl.

The lesson ended, and the boy found himself in a free period- both he and Pidge had it during this block, and typically spent it playing video games at his dorm.

But ever since the incident it was spent working on figuring out what had happened to them. 

“Pidge!” He called, running up to meet with the short girl. The lime green sweater complemented her soft skin and chestnut hair, falling over her shoulders like a waterfall.

Her honey eyes glittered behind the circular lenses she wore on her freckled cheeks.

“Lance?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. His attention snapped back to their main focus: checking up with the city for any rising attacks. 

“Yeah? What-?” He spat out rapidly, averting his gaze to the sky.

“Welcome back, with how long you were staring at me one would think you fell in love~” she taunted, a giggle slipping through her lips. 

“No! That wasn’t it at all! I was just-“ Lance protested, eyes widening at her words.

“I was just kidding, man. I know you’re smitten over Allura,” she winked, looking down at the ground as a soft blush coated her cheeks.

“Yep,” Lance said, popping the final consonant of the word. The two awkwardly stood, before Pidge checked her watch.

“We should.. get going,” she mumbled, the boy nodding in agreement. They walked in silence, never looking each other in the eye for more than a second.

Their attention was snapped towards a loud crash, followed by a scream. 

“The fuck?” Pidge swore, the entity within her emerging. Lance followed suit, rushing towards the epicenter of the noise.

A girl- about the same age as the two, was pinned against the wall of a building by a tall man. The girl was rather short, long blonde bangs pulled behind her into two ponytails. Her eyes were a shade of purple- similar to Keith. 

She wore a pink crop top, teal sleeves and white accents complemented the base of the shirt. She had black leggings, and pink boots.

She groaned against the attacker, kicking helplessly against his grip.

“What should we do?” Pidge hissed, looking at her friend. 

“I don’t know! Call the police? We fight robots not big, scary men!” Lance yelled in response. The man dropped the girl, kicking her in the stomach. She whimpered, curling in on herself.

“And who has decided to stalk us?” He spoke in a british accent. Pristine white hair flowed over his broad shoulders, emotionless eyes scanning the alley where the two teens hid.

Pidge froze, moving herself in front of Lance and resting both arms on either side of him. She pressed herself against him, shielding him away from whoever approached.

If it weren’t for his size advantage, he probably wouldn’t be visible to anybody who dared go near them.

The voice chuckled, fingers latching around Pidge’s throat and pulling back. She groaned as she was tossed into the wall, coughing as he wiped away a dribble of blood from her chin.

“Pidge!” Lance shouted, searching for any outlets of water nearby. His eyes landed on a storm drain, and from the earlier rainfall it was probably full. He focused his energy on the drain, watching it burst and hit the stranger’s neck.

Pidge dashed forward, one hand on her side as the other slid onto the ground. In less than a second, several roots sprung from the ground and pinned the man in place.

“So you are the heroes that have been appearing all over the news. I truly would have expected better,” he mused.

“Lotor, please-“ the girl whispered, clutching her stomach as she weakly stood. “Don’t do this,”

His fingers reached beneath his coat, pulling out a pistol. He aimed at the girl, and pulled the trigger.

Without thinking, Pidge leapt forward and screamed as the bullet connected with her shoulder. 

All Lance saw was red. He felt anger wash over his body, his own consciousness no longer in control. He roared, body glowing a pale blue as he knocked Lotor against the ground. 

The british male’s eyes widened, fear evident in his eyes. Whatever he had expected to happen, this was not it. Lance growled, fingers digging into Lotor’s neck.

“Lance! Stop! This isn’t you!” A voice shouted, and Lance was pulled back by a strong set of arms. He blinked, groaning as the surge of energy left him. 

“Pidgey?” He asked, feeling his body be pulled into a hug. There was a humm, followed by silence.

“Lance, we have to get back to campus. Our break is nearly over,” Pidge whispered. He nodded.

“Wait, but you’re shot,” he jumped up, looking at her shoulder. The green cloak covered the majority of the wound, but the faintest amount of blood still soaked through the fabric. “And your ribs-“

“It only grazed me, and I bit my tongue too hard when I was thrown into the wall. I’m fine, nothing some bandages can’t help,” she spoke, helping him up. 

“Wait-“ a female whispered, reaching for the two. The girl- Pidge kicked herself mentally for forgetting.

“Who are you?” Lance asked, looking over her for any weapons. Lotor still lay motionless on the ground, wrapped in a cocoon of plants.

“I’m Romelle,” the girl replied. “And that, is Lotor- son of Zarkon,”

“Who now?” Pidge asked, confusion in her voice.

“He and his wife are lead researchers in a government project- I escaped from the prison and they’re after me,” she quickly responded, eyes glancing around their surroundings.

“Let’s get her to Shiro’s apartment, then,” Pidge said, motioning for Romelle to follow. “Let’s go,”

. . . . . . . .

After all classes had ended, the group returned to Shiro’s apartment.

Romelle quietly sat on the couch, her hair woven through her frail fingers.

“Okay, so what are these people doing?” Hunk asked the girl. She took a deep breath, getting ready to tell her story.

“About two years ago I was kidnapped alongside my brother,” she began. “We were brought to a large forest, with an enclosure that was like a zoo- but for humans,”

“That’s horrible,” Allura gasped, her hands covering her mouth in shock. Pidge’s ears perked- humans were kidnapped and brought to a location?

“They didn’t.. do anything- at least not at first. They began taking some of us in groups, without a word on what they planned to do. My brother and I were inseparable, we always had a phone hidden in our shoes in case of an emergency,” her story continued. “When they took my brother… it took a few days for him to call me. When he did, he told me that they were killing them,”

“They forced them to fight, pushed them through countless experiments. You either died going through the experiments- or got through them only to be killed. He had escaped his cell, and found a chamber full of those who had passed the trials, as he called them,” Romelle frowned. “These people… their chests were ripped open, their hearts stolen,”

“But I thought they were artificially creating the hearts?” Hunk asked, turning to Pidge.

“They were enhanced- that was the experiment. A substance named quintessence was discovered by one of the country’s top scientists, Honerva. She took the hearts and with the quintessence, created a power source,” the blonde responded.

“Ay diós, this isn’t good..” Lance whispered, feeling sick to his stomach. “Is- is your brother okay?”

“No. They killed him,” Romelle shifted her gaze, tears forming in her eyes. “He’s gone, at the hands of the Galra,”

“Galra?” Keith asked. 

“Yes- that’s what they have dubbed themselves. They’re a corrupt branch of government, all they seek is power. And, it may be you six they want,” she sighed.

“Why us?” Hunk’s face drained of color.

“Perhaps it is the power you carry within you- during my time at the colony I overheard them speak of Voltron, they say it’s the ultimate source of quintessence, and they won’t stop until they have it, even your blood carries immense power,” 

Lance and Pidge’s eyes widened, looking at each other.

“Well, shit,” Pidge cursed. Shiro raised an eyebrow at the two, the others in the room asking the same question in their minds.

“When we saved Romelle and fought that Lotor dude, he got in some lucky hits,” Lance began, but was cut off by Pidge backhanding him.

“Stop sugar coating it, Lance. When he threw me into the wall, I bit my tongue hard enough to draw quite a bit of blood. It was dripping from my mouth and he wiped away some of it,” she pouted.

“He also grazed your shoulder with a bullet,” Romelle added. 

“He what?” Allura shouted, looking at the shorter girl. Pidge sighed, peeling the sweater off of her shoulder. A gauze was pressed into her shoulder, held down by medical tape.

“It’s fine, see? It doesn’t even hurt, plus only a little blood got onto my cloak,” she rolled her eyes at her friends’ bubbling concern.

“That was no ordinary gun, Pidge,” Romelle shook her head. “Did you see the bullet?”

“No? But he was aiming it at you-“ Pidge tilted her head in confusion.

“Because he knew one of you would do something to protect me. The bullets are designed to pierce through flesh, and close afterwards. They trap the skin and often blood inside the bullet,” she explained.

“So they have my blood, this is just peachy,” Pidge groaned, leaning back into the couch.


End file.
